£800m property investment programme completes 'important milestone' in Sheffield

The first apartments to be built as part of an £800m investment programme to create new rental properties across England have been completed in Sheffield.

The £2.7m three-storey development, known as Park Grange House, has been built by Keepmoat Regeneration, part of the ENGIE Group.

Representatives from Sigma Capital Group, Sheffield Housing Company (SHC), and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has visited the newly completed scheme which is located in Norfolk Park.

The new development is part of a wider investment with Sigma Capital Group plc to deliver a target of 5,000 new homes for private rental across the country by 2021.

Partners also saw a newly installed sandstone sculpture created by local artist Steve Roche, which includes deer carvings to mark the history of the land as a game park.

Martin Smithurst, regional managing director at Keepmoat Regeneration, said: “The completion of Park Grange House is an important milestone for the partnership and we are very proud to have played a part in providing these much needed high quality homes in such a prime location.

“The PRS market has become increasingly popular in recent years and this demand has to play a greater role in accelerating the delivery of new homes. To successfully tackle the housing shortage, we have to build properties of varying tenure and this project is a great example of partnership working at its best.”

The 24 two-bedroom apartments are available for private rent, through Sigma’s Simple Life private rented sector (PRS) brand; while the lettings and property management of the apartments at Park Grange House will be undertaken by SDL Group.

Rachel Hoy, development manager at Sigma Capital, added: “We are really pleased to have completed our first development with Keepmoat Regeneration and we are already looking forward to getting on site with our pipeline of developments planned with both Keepmoat Regeneration and SHC, thus cementing our partnership together.

“We are also delighted to be supporting Sheffield as a city, in being able to help deliver private rental family homes where there is a genuine demand in the area. The apartments are stunning; we are very pleased with the finished result.”

John Clephan, project director with SHC, commented: “This project will now add private rented properties to the local housing offer. Our next two schemes together will deliver a mix of homes for sale and private rent, bringing with them our usual focus on creating local jobs and targeting the investment into Sheffield’s local economy.”

Chris Stride, senior specialist portfolio management, at the HCA, concluded: “We are very proud to be able support exciting regeneration projects with our partners at Sigma that are helping create homes where they will have a real impact on the local community.

“This development in Sheffield is a great example of how the HCA’s Home Building Fund can be used to accelerate the development of much needed housing where there is high demand. It is fantastic to see how many homes have already been taken up.”